Railway of the North
by Goldsaddletank
Summary: Years after saving the Magic Railroad, Burnett Stone passes away. Patch uncovers a box containing treasures, and, along with his friend Lily, Burnett's granddaughter; Lady the Magical Engine and Thomas, their hero, travel to the Northern Island to uncover secrets his mentor took to his grave- all whilst sparks fly and danger looms round the bend... *requested by kristanelprime2
1. The Box

A/N: A short crossover between My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and Thomas and Friends, as requested by kristanelprime23. I hope you enjoy!

...

Several years had passed since the time the Magic Railroad had come into jeopardy, and Burnett Stone had since passed away due to a heart attack. Lily and Patch grieved for him- although morose, he was a good man- and he often let Patch help him around the workshop before telling him about Lady. Patch never had someone care about him before, as his parents never showed him love or affection.

Lily missed her grandfather deeply. What made it more painful for her was the knowledge that he was buried wearing her friendship bracelet that she made for him during the Magic Railroad 'campaign'.

Stacey Jones missed her friend also, and she retired from the station, saying that she would always love the railway, but age could not treat her kindly enough to keep running Shining Time as before. As a result, Lily and Patch felt the responsibility to keep up their friends' legacies.

Lily took over for Stacey Jones, and she kept a now ageing Mutt and Junior company- Mr. Conductor had also retired and left his cousin in charge of the station, as there were no sons and no brothers to do that for him.

Patch took on the responsibility of looking after Lady and keeping her well maintained. He also ran the workshop, due to Burnett having taught him many things during his time here.

...

The two children were no longer children, but it was at the tender age of fifteen that the duo not only came to recognise feelings of more than friendship for each other, but also that another adventure with Thomas and Lady was looming nigh, though neither realised this.

According to Patch, the latter began at 3:05PM, as he was organising the workshop for the first time since Burnett's death.

It was that time when he discovered a box- buried at the back of Burnett's workbench. It was wooden, with beautiful ornate patterns across the lid- of dragons, horses and of six strange symbols in a silver oval on the top of the lid: a diamond, a rainbow thunderbolt coming out of a cloud, an apple, a butterfly, and a balloon were in a circle, with a shining six pointed star in the centre.

"What does it mean?" Patch wondered. He carried the box over to Lady and set it down on the floor beside her. Oil covered fingers hooked to the lip of the lid, and Patch lifted it up.

What he saw astounded him.

Papers of all sorts filled the box. Patch lifted one out- it was a faded train timetable. Even with the ink fading away, the boy reckoned it didn't belong to Sodor or Shining Time.

The next item was a letter. It read

' _Dear Burnett,_

 _We are most sorry to hear of Tasha's death. She was a wonderful and kind lady-pray may you find healing soon, so you may look back on your memories of her to be treasured, rather than suppressed in grief._

 _It has been a while since you came to visit us, Burnett. Pray, do feel welcome to do so. You are our friend- as is Lady, of course. Her friends miss her very much, and would love to see you and her again._

 _We look forward to seeing you,_

 _With kind regards,_

 _Celestia and Luna- Controllers of the Equestrian Railway'_

Patch frowned as he placed the letter beside the timetable- perhaps that was what it was for.

Next, he fished out a beautiful, ceremonial golden steam engine, engraved 'To our most treasured friend and hero, Burnett Stone, from the Equestrian Railway.'

Patch was even more bemused by now- in all his time being Burnett's mentee, he had never heard of the Equestrian Railway being mentioned. Come to think of it, where was the Equestrian Railway?

The teenage boy hoped a map was here- instead, he found an envelope with two silver shining train tickets inside and a guard's whistle.

At last, he found a map- it was on an island known as the Northern Island, and it was, unsurprisingly, north of Sodor.

'Hm, better show Lily this,' he thought. He put most of the papers back- except for the letter, the whistle, the statue, map, whistle and tickets.

Which, strangely, had no date on them.


	2. Dinner Party

A/N: I mention some characters from the Shining Time show. Nothing belongs to me- except the song.

...

The tickets gleamed in the lamp light as Patch tried to puzzle out the meaning of why Burnett would keep such a strange assortment of objects. He abandoned his cleaning efforts and instead decided to think about how to investigate this mysterious railway.

"Lady, what do you know about this?" He asked her- but no answer came from the beautiful purple and gold engine beside him. Of course she wouldn't answer- when on Muffle Mountain, even after Burnett got her to steam, Lady could not speak.

' _No wonder Burnett called her 'silent swan,_ ' the young teenager thought, and he looked at the letter from Celestia and Luna.

Celestia...it was a name her had never heard of before. It suggested something heavenly and divine. Luna he had heard of, but didn't hear a lot- doesn't it has association with the moon?

And Equestrian Railway...equestrian was definitely associated with horses. If Patch didn't know that, he would be a fool.

But what didn't make sense was a railway to do with horses.

He racked his brain, trying to remember if Burnett had suggested something to do with this- but he came at a blank. Repeatedly.

"Well, I haven't a clue," He mumbled at last, putting the objects aside, and he instead began to polish Lady- his rags coming out greyish black. Patch knew it was the first time since Burnett's death that she had been polished, and now she was lying, tainted by neglect and sorrow.

As he did so, he remembered an old song- almost like a lullaby for her- which Burnett sung to her. It was one Burnett had composed out of his grief in his inability to fix his old friend.

" _Oh, Silent Lady in the sidings,_

 _Why won't you steam?_

 _Your chuffing would be music to my ears, your steam a picture to remember._

 _Oh, sweet Lady- I wish to hear your song again,_

 _But alas, dear one- the birds continue to sing to your silence,"_

As Patch continued to sing, Lily came in to the workshop to find her friend. She blushed when she heard him singing Lady's lullaby- he had a wonderful voice, and she couldn't believe she didn't know about it until now. Instead of announcing her presence, she huddled by the doorframe.

" _Someday, dear Lady, the mirrors of truth will gleam once again_

 _And your cherished music shall be more golden than silence._

 _Soon, my precious Lady, friendship shall set us free_

 _And keep us from everlasting silence."_

Patch finished the song, and as he worked on Lady, he began humming a little tune.

...

At the door, however, Lily felt her nose beginning to twitch- and the spell cast over her was immediately broken. "A-A-ATCHOO!" She sneezed loudly, causing Patch to whirl round.

"Lily!" He exclaimed, on seeing her by the door. "How long have you been here?"

"I just got back," Replied Lily, sheepishly. "Lady looks beautiful, Patch- just like before..." Her voice trailed away thinking about her grandfather.

"How was work?" Patch asked her.

"It was quite busy- but I had Junior and Mutt to help me," The young girl replied, managing a small smile. "You know, Junior's a lot more mature than he was all those years ago- he's still got a sense of humour, of course- but he's come along so much." She shook her head. "Where did time go, Patch?"

"I don't know," Replied her friend. Then he remembered the timetable and decided to mention the box to Lily.

"Here, Lily, I was- I was organising the workshop earlier today- and I found this." He pointed to the chest. Lily gasped as she looked at it.

"Do you know anything about it?" He asked.

"I...I don't know anything about the box itself- but the symbols on the top are familiar." She answered. "I know I've seen them before- but where?"

"That's okay, Lily- if you remember later, we can do a little more investigating." Patch said. He decided to leave it until later- it had clearly been a long day for Lily.

"Thanks Patch." She said gratefully. "Here, Billy Twofeathers' nephew invited us and Stacey to dinner tonight. I was thinking we should"-

"Go? Of course." Patch answered. He hadn't seen his friends in a while.

...

So Patch and Lily rode down Muffle Mountain on horseback and arrived at Shining Time. There, they met an ageing Billy Twofeathers and his nephew- now a young man in his twenties. There were other individuals his age too- they were Dan Jones, who was Stacey's nephew (Stacey herself was also present); Kara Cupper; granddaughter of Harry Cupper, who was Billy Twofeather's predecessor; and a young lady named Becky- they were childhood friends of Kit. Lily and Patch introduced themselves, and were warmly welcomed into the group.

...

Later, they arrived at Kit's house, and they sat down. Whilst they waited for dinner, they began to make small talk- this eventually led to railroads.

"So, Lily, we heard that about how you were involved in saving the Magic Railroad," Becky said warmly.

"Oh- well, I didn't really do anything," Lily replied "But I was there when Diesel 10 chased Lady down the line- it was very scary!"

"I'll bet," Said Kara. "So, do you two help with Lady?"

"I handle her maintenance." Patch answered.

"Yes- things have never been the same since Burnett died." Stacey lamented. "The poor man. At least he's with Tasha now."

The mood was sombre for a moment, until they received dinner- at which point they tucked in heartily.

As they ate, however, Lily couldn't help but allow her mind to slip back to the strange symbols on the box Patch had found.

' _What do they mean?'_ She thought. It was slowly but surely impetrating all her other thoughts. _'And where have I seen them before?'_


End file.
